In order to facilitate the accessing of information available through computer networks such as the Internet and the World Wide Web (“the Web”), network service providers typically allow users access to one or mores search engines that are operable by the user to identify specific classes of information available on the network.
FIG. 1 depicts an example of the Web browser application and a typical presentation via a graphical user interface (GUI) of a search engine page 100 that may arise from a user searching of a particular keyword string of text 102, in this example STRING. STRING may be a single alphanumeric word, or a list of such words, perhaps linked by Boolean operators, and represents the search criteria used by the search engine. As illustrated in FIG. 1, search results 104 are typically ranked according to the quality of hit upon the searched string and typically lists a location 106 of the search result and the corresponding title 108. The actual presentation of the search results 104 is often user definable within a range of settings established by the search engine. Typically the location 106 of an individual result 114 is expressed as a Uniform Resource Location (URL). In some cases, the title 108 and the location 106 are combined as a Uniform Resource Indicator (URI). Often, the search engine application provides for some amount of text 110, typically a few lines or an abstract, relating to the particular location to be presented as part of the search result. In many search engines, this text typically represents the first few lines of text of the referenced location.
As a consequence, based on the presentation shown in FIG. 1, the user is then able to scroll through the search results 104 using a scroll bar 112 or by selecting different display pages of the search result to identify those individual results desired to be reviewed. In those circumstances where the user preselects the text 110 to be displayed, often the search results 104 are provided arranged ten to a page. However, removal of the text 110 can provide the search results to be provided at a rate of approximately twenty per page, where “page” in this fashion represents electronic page of information displayed on a display screen to the computer network user.
Many problems exist with the above described arrangement. Firstly, where only the URL 106 is presented in the result, often the user has no means of interpreting the search result other than by accessing the URL. Where the titles 108 are selected for display, often the particular title 108 provides no information as to the specific content, or context of that content, to be found at the corresponding URL, or bears any relationship to the searched string 102. Further, where the text 110 is also provided, there is no guarantee that the searched string 102 will be presented in the text displayed on the search page 100. Further, in any configuration there in no guarantee that when the user accesses the particular location 106, at which the searched string 102 is putported to be found, that the searched string will actually be found. As a consequence of the inadequacies of the information presented in the search page 100 shown in FIG. 1, users often spend excessive amounts of time accessing individual locations, reviewing the locations and, where appropriate, discarding the relevance of that location before referring to a further location.
FIG. 2A exemplifies a display of a Web page 200 accessed through a user selecting the first search result 114 shown in FIG. 1. As seen from FIG. 2A, the displayed Web page 200 includes a title banner 202, various images 204, 206, 208, 210, and text 212 incorporating the searched string 214. With such an example, accessing of the first search result 114 by the user provides an immediate result in response to the user's searching of the search string.
However, in FIG. 2B, a Web title page 230 for another search result 116 shown in FIG. 1 is shown which also includes a title 216, a certain amount of text 218, an animated GIF image 220 together with a number of further URL links 222 within the same primary location depicted by the particular URL, in this case URL#m. Notably, the search string is not seen in the displayed page 230 of FIG. 2B. In order for the user to find the search string, it is necessary for the user to scroll through the Web page 230 using the scroll bar 112. As seen from FIG. 2C, the search string 102 is located at 232 within a display screen 234 within the Web page 230 defined by the URL#m. The display screen 234 is seen to have images 224, 226 and text 228.
Further, where the user reviews information at any one location, the only convenient way of forming a reasonable record of that review is to print a particular page of the reference location. Print facilities provided with browser applications and search engine pages are limited to one Web page at a time. This requires the user to access each Web page and to then print that page where appropriate.
It will therefore be appreciated that traditional methods of viewing search results obtained over computer networks can be time consuming, and are not conducive to providing a convenient record of search results.